UCLA football produced a strong first quarter before pulling away in the 52-38 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Saturday, Sept. 19.
The Bruins scored on each of their first three drives and put the game out of reach in the second half, scoring 14 points in each of the final two quarters.
UCLA improves to 3-0 overall on the season and 1-0 in Big Ten Conference play.
Here are some of the biggest winners and losers for the Bruins.
Winners
Offensive skill position players
The Bruins’ playmakers continued to produce numbers and light up the scoreboard against the Boilermakers.
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava vowed that he needed to play better after the first two weeks.
Iamaleava found wide receiver Semaj Morgan for a pair of touchdowns in the
first quarter to get momentum rolling in the Bruins' favor early in the game.
Running back Wayne Knight scored two more touchdowns again this week. Knight became the first Bruin since Maurice Jones-Drew to score two or more non-throwing touchdowns in three straight games, according to Big Ten Network. Jones-Drew was UCLA's honorary captain for the game.
Knight finished with 177 rushing yards for the game. Anthony Woods and Jaivian Thomas each added a rushing touchdown.
Losers
UCLA’s defense
The Bruins defense allowed 38 points, including 14 points in the second quarter against Ryan Browne and the Purdue offense.
The defense will need to figure things out with games against Maryland and Oregon in the coming weeks.
Sammy Omosigho was one of the true bright spots for the Bruins, producing 12 tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles for UCLA.
Offensive line
The Bruins’ offensive line did enough to help put the offense in position to score, but it wasn’t without Iamaleava getting briefly knocked out of the game.
Iamaleava was clearly in pain after taking big hits and being slow to get up off the field at one point. His finger was even bleeding during the game.
Nico’s brother, Madden Iamaleava, entered the game in place of the starting quarterback before he was able to return.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UCLA vs Purdue takeaways: Here are winners, losers from Big Ten opener
